


Beauty is in the pie of the beholder

by KlausKatz



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Gen, Pie, also totally dedicated to luke, fred gets into baking as a form of recovery, hes a good dad, season 2 rewrite about fred and baking basically, sorta AU bc i forgot the plot points bc its been months lol, this is dedicated to fred andrews my tv dad, yall i love fred
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-06-23 15:03:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15608895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KlausKatz/pseuds/KlausKatz
Summary: Fred Andrews knew that the moment he unearthed his mother's old recipes during his time off due to the injury that there would be less takeout and more fires, but he'd be damned if he didn't do at least something while being stuck at home. Or the fic where Fred is on "bed rest" and instead bakes pies and tries to heal after being shot. And also the fic where Archie is tired of coming home to see his dad with like 50 pies out and like only about 5 of them aren't burned and he has no idea where to put them all because he can't keep eating them and Jughead won't eat them so where do they go?





	1. Blueberry plans

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written for Riverdale and honestly, sometimes I hate this ridiculous show but I love Fred and he deserves this.  
> pls let me know if the first chapter is good bc I have like a bunch of Fred centric fic ideas tbh

Fred Andrews pulled out his fifth blueberry pie of the day out of the oven. Unlike the three burnt and overcooked pies and his fourth undercooked but also burnt pie? ( he wasn't so sure how that happened) this time it wasn't burnt and smelled good and even in fact looked good!  
“ I think I finally got the best blueberry pie of the day Arch” he shouted up to Archie who was in his room doing his homework. Fred set down the pie and surveyed the messy kitchen, there were flour and bowls everywhere and a large spot on the stove where he accidentally melted a spoon because he put on a burner rather than the oven. Fred sighs hands on his hips and shakes his head. He hears Archie bounding down the stairs. 

“Pie”? He says smiling brightly. Sometimes Fred feels bad that he's been making Archie eat a lot of his failed pies but he knows that they also go to a lot of his teammates and once to Veronica who asked for a wildberry pie. 

“ Yeah, blueberry this time,” Fred said turning around and cutting a slice out of one of the failed yet less burnt pies he had baked earlier. “Let's eat this one and maybe give the good one to Jughead? I know he likes blueberry” Fred handed Archie a piece on a plate and grabbed one for himself and sat down at the kitchen table. 

Archie with a plate in hand followed his father “ That would be nice, I know he likes pie but I'm not sure he would eat pie from anywhere other than Pop’s, remember the birthday fiasco?” Archie said and dug into his pie. Fred definitely remembered the time that Pop’s was closed and Jughead had a homemade pie and how even as a tiny five-year-old Jughead could throw a pie as good as a baseball playing clown according to a four-year-old Archie. Fred laughed at that memory “ Yeah, you said he could throw a pie just as good as a baseball playing clown”. 

They both laughed stuck in the memory of a life that was once innocent and not tainted by almost death and loss. “Maybe give it to someone who deserves it?” Archie wasn't sure who else would take it, his teammates were done with pie after eating all the mistakes made on the apple rhubarb pies, Veronica wouldn't eat more than one pie per year and Betty and by proxy Kevin is on a diet (Betty wanted to eat a bit healthier because she had been spending a lot of her time eating snacks and writing and Kevin joined her in the diet because he was starting to train for wrestling) Then Archie got an idea.

“What if we give it to Mr. Jones!” He said excitedly “ He hasn't gone to jail jail yet dad and I think it would be nice to show that we’re on his side” Archie knew that FP wasn't the greatest man but he used to be his dads’ something… and he deserved something nice after all he was stuck in prison for something he didn't even do.

Fred looked up from his pie in surprise “ You know what kiddo that's not a bad idea. He always did like your grandmother's pie, would always be 100% more respectful to her than anybody else in this town when she gave him a piece of pie” He smiled reflecting on the past and the man who used to be his best friend and more who even after all the shit at home could smile and be as cheerful as a child when his mother gave them pie, despite his bruises and the jacket he wore Fred knew FP was never as happy as he used to be when he was beside Fred sharing a slice of pie. 

“ Maybe I'll pop down with that lasagne for the sheriff, bribe him into allowing pie for FP,” Fred said musing the idea of bribing the sheriff and his friend. He knows how Tom had been pushing himself too hard and deserved something nice. 

Archie made a face at those words “ Okay dad, just make sure it's just the lasagne your bribing the sheriff with, I don't think he'd take it too kindly if you gave him like 30 bucks”, Archie stood up and grabbed his and Freds plate and headed to the sink. “I’ll do the dishes dad and you can head down to the station”

“Are you sure son?” Fred asked while standing up, hovering slightly, “ the kitchen’s really messy”.

Archie laughed “Yeah it really is. Also is that a spoon on the stove?” he pointed to the melted plastic mess on the stove.

“Maybe….” Fred said after a moment. “Look I'm trying here,” he said with a shrug

Archie raised his hands in surrender “ I know I know just please don't ruin anything else here dad that could have started a fire.” he asked his father concern on his face. “Just take the pie and lasagne and make someone's night” Archie knew that his father could cheer some people who were lost in the world up by a simple smile, but his fathers' food? It was something else and he knew that whatever problem he had with FP would be helped with the pie. 

Fred moved around Archie and tinfoil wrapped the pie and the lasagna up and said his goodbyes to his son and hopped in his car and headed down to the station.


	2. Pie you doing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this got dark and sad on Fred's part??? idk maybe I should mention that like the fact that Fred bakes its cause he has like PTSD bc he literally got shot and like he was mentally fine after??? nope, my Fred is a great dad who has problems bc he was literally shot. anyway, I hope you like it !!

Fred had arrived at the station and sat in his car, the tin foiled food items close beside. He didn't know how to ask Tom if he could give FP pie, it's an odd thing to ask since Fred hasn't talked to FP in months. “Better late than never” he muttered to himself and got out of the car.

Food underneath his arm he pushed open the door, he looked around the small precinct and saw his old friend Sheriff Tom. “Hey Fred,” the sheriff said when he had spotted him.

“How are you old buddy” he continued with a one-armed hug and a strong pat on the back.   
“Hey Tom, I was wondering if I could see FP, I haven't seen him since before the accident, to be honest I’m not even sure he knows I've been shot” Fred said nervously, FP was once his best friend and had reacted badly to a bee sting Fred had got once and fought a literal bee. Fred was sort of afraid what FP would do if he knew he had been shot. Jail or not FP was a fiercely loyal friend to Fred despite everything. 

Tom rubbed the back of his head, “I mean I guess so? There’s nothing going on right now so I can let him out so the two of you can talk ?” Fred gave a smile to Tom “ That would be great!” He wasn't so sure how it would feel seeing FP in a prison cell since he tried his hardest to keep his best friend out of one for years before and now he’s in one for the biggest murder in their little town. 

“Oh before I forget, I have a lasagna here for you Tom, The injury has me out of work for a bit and the only thing keeping me sane is my mother's recipes, It's easy to keep a mind empty of the pain when you have a pie in the oven” Fred laughed lightly trying to keep the conversation light and hoping that Tom wouldn't ask why he needed to distract himself from the pain and the craving of something to help with the idea he almost died.

“Awe Fred you shouldn't have!” Fred handed the plate of lasagne to him and remembered about the pie.

“Oh and I have some pie for FP, blueberry pie, it's his favourite and I think he deserves something nice for a change” Fred said with a slight shrug, he knew FP had been having a rough few years after his divorce and him losing his job and now prison, Fred hoped this would be a nice change for FP maybe he no maybe the both of them could finally give an effort to stop the other from spiralling like they once did. 

Tom smiled, he knew that Fred and FP were close and things had ended badly between the two and maybe just maybe a pie shared between two broken men would help them both out. 

“Sure Fred just follow me through here and I'll get FP to sit down with you,” Tom said and gestured to an interrogation room. “I'll be right back, I'll get FP and some utensils”

“Thanks, Tom I owe you one,” Fred said as he entered the room and set down his pie on the table and waited for FP to come. 

Fred took a seat and then took the pie out of its box. It was still lightly steaming and looked perfect, He was nervous and he didn't know why. This was FP the man who fought a bee for him, the man who kept up with his silly antics and his ridiculous love for Bruce Springsteen. This was a man he knew since they were young. The thing that terrifies him was he knew that FP could see that something was tearing him up inside, something Fred was afraid to face, death itself and the fear that the masked man would come once more to finish the job.

 

He didn't know how he could still be alive, but these pies and cakes and other food items made him feel alive. The burns on his wrists and hands from pulling them out without gloves made him feel grounded. FP would know immediately what the pie stood for, despite everything FP knew that cooking/baking was a bad coping mechanism and Fred knew that drinking and pushing people away was FP’s. 

The door opened and FP walked in.

“Fred,” he said in shock, just standing there taking in the image of his best friend, frozen and confused. “What are you doing here?” he asked noticing Fred had lost weight and seemed to be holding himself smaller hunched up in the chair in front of FP with what looked like one of Mrs. Andrews blueberry pie as a shield. He stared at Fred and Fred stared back, both unknowing what to say to the other.

Tom pushed into the room startling FP and Fred, “Here you go guys, two plates and some forks and knives, I'll leave you guys be. Just knock when you are done Fred I trust you to not let him free” He gave them a big smile not noticing the tension between the old friends.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fred had not been in a room alone with FP in a long while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, it took so long to update but yah girl is bummed out rn and I had no inspiration really but I'm back and I think one more chapter for this bad boi then maybe I'll write something else about Fred Andrews.

Fred had not been in a room alone with FP in a long while. They had a lot of ups and downs in their friendship and even when they used to work together too. FP always wanted to take on bigger and bigger jobs but Fred knew that his company couldn't take them on. After a while of fighting as friends and coworkers plus FP’s betrayal, they spread apart only being friendly for the sake of their sons who became the best of friends. 

They both had a lot of unsaid words and also things they yelled at each other that they can't take back. The atmosphere was full of regret and a dash of awkward. They sat across from each other not saying much. FP confused on why today of all days did Fred visit him. 

“Not that it isn't nice to see you Freddy but can I ask why you came with pie?” FP asked breaking the tension in the room. 

Fred huffed and ran a hand down his face. A million dollar question he thought briefly to himself. “ I needed to leave the house, Arch was getting sick of me being stuck there. I can't work yet because of my shoulder so I've been bored out of my mind. Hell, I've been so bored I took up baking.” Fred knew that there was more to it. His near brush to death made him realise that old arguments should be put to rest. FP was once one of the most important people in his life. 

FP looked at Fred suspiciously, his friend was never good in the kitchen. FP knew that Fred’s mother would kick him out of the kitchen because of an accident once when they were kids. The stove was never the same after it was set on fire. “ You? Baking? Jesus how many stoves have you ruined” he said with a light laugh breaking the tension.

Fred snorted “That happened only once! Plus Arch has been watching the oven with a fire extinguisher like a hawk.” the only time anything caught on fire was after Fred took too much medication and fell asleep; It was easy to pop one pill after another when he felt even the slightest pain. After that Archie made sure to monitor his medicine intake. 

FP looked down at the pie, once he realized it was blueberry, not any usual blueberry pie but a Mrs Andrews blueberry pie. “Did you find your mother’s special recipe book?” he asked. FP remembered the large red and white checkered cookbook, it was filled with some of his favourite meals he had as a teen. It felt wrong that the pie he ate when he was young that was connected to so many good memories and meals were now in a interrogation room. 

Fred looked at FP “Yeah it is, I found it a year or so ago when I was cleaning up the attic, I think she must have left it here for…” He trailed off. Mary was never one to cook elaborate meals like his own mother but unlike his mother, she was a very good lawyer and was busy. He didn't resent her for that at all. 

FP noticed he did not say her name, he had his own ex-wife and issues too. “Hey, it still got used… How many meals have you cooked with it? I remember there being one of the best lasagne recipes in there” he said with a smirk trying to change the subject to something lighter than both of their failed marriages.

Fred smiled “Let's see, I've made all her pie recipes from the peach cobbler to boysenberry pie. I've made bread, steak and potatoes, shepherds pie, several spaghetti recipes and yeah I've made her lasagne. Mom’s food will always be much better than mine but Arch and his boys like it” he laughed lightly. Nothing could ever compare to the food his mother made but Archie thought it was good and even Hermione who ate his mother food before thought it was amazing.

FP cut into the pie getting a slice for himself and for Fred. “I'm glad you have a hobby. I know a bored and restless Fred Andrews is a dangerous Fred Andrews. If this pie is better than your mother's I... well I don't know what I’d do other than be in shock” he says with a laugh and takes a bite of the pie. 

FP makes an appreciative noise as Fred looks on expectedly, he wanted this pie to be sort of an apology or more accurately a sign to rekindle an old friendship between two lonely friends. “Good right!” Fred said brightly, this pie compared to the rest turned out brilliant, beautiful and by the look on FP’s face delicious. 

FP was shocked, it was actually amazing, it was even almost better than Mrs Andrews. “Fred are you being possessed by your mother because that's the only explanation I can think of. The boy who set pasta on fire now made a pie that was damn good” he said and took another bite. 

Fred laughed, “I've certainly come along way then” He grinned and ate the pie with FP.


	4. Day Pie Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the end of this !! its march of 2019 bc I forgot but it's done and I really hope you like it !! also I mostly forget all the plot points I was writing about so this is sorta an AU??.

They looked at each other in the only interrogation room in their tiny towns tiny police station at a tiny table eating pie, in a way Fred felt like they were back in his house 16 and a whole life before them. But that wasn't the case, Fred has 30 plus years on the naive sixteen-year-old who loved, trusted and cared so so much for the man before him. He still feels something akin to love but it was tired and stretched so thin by many fights and by time too.

FP frowned at Fred “you don't look too hot Freddie is everything alright?” FP may have almost burned every bridge he had with Fred but he has not nor will ever forget what he looks like when he’s in pain. 

Fred winced at FP’s words, FP didn't know nor would he have had any reason to know that Fred had been shot, has been trying to ignore the fact that he almost died, ignoring the drugs for fear of addiction once more or that the simple small burn marks were not accidental but on purpose. Replacing one pain for another one. 

Fred composed himself and spoke “I was shot in Pops a little bit ago actually” he looked down not wanting to see the expression on his dearest friends face.

FP was taken back by this. He thought that at the least work had been tough on Fred but no the worst case scenario had happened, Fred had been hurt he had been targeted by someone. 

“Who” he grunted. He craved revenge, give Riverdale a real reason to place him in jail.

Fred looked up looked at FP, his face contorted in anger his fists clenched, he was full of wrath and it surprised Fred he thought they were at odds but clearly a good pie and conversation could jolt memories of the past and of a bond that was so strong once. 

“We don't know, he was wearing a mask.” He didn't add that it was Archie’s biggest regret he didn't go after the man because it was too hard for Fred to even think what would have happened to his son if he did. 

Fred continued, tears starting to form in his eyes “ He came into the diner and pointed a gun at Pop then Archie tried to help as he came to me yelling about my wallet, he shot me and ran it was terrifying. I didn't know what to do other than keep Archie safe and I got shot in the side”. He broke off in a sob.

FP looked at Fred, the one thing about his past he didn't regret and he regretted a lot. He felt useless at this moment watching his friend cry a man who stood silent at his father's funeral, at his wife leaving him and when they had argued and ruined their friendship. He didn't know what to say or to do. 

Fred cried, he let out all that he was keeping in, he forgot about FP until he felt an arm come around him. Fred and FP haven't hugged in a while. It was nice, Fred leaned his head on FP’s chest and cried.

FP looked down at Fred hunched over in his arms crying. He remembered that when Fred was sad Mrs. Andrews would run her hands over his back and shush him softly, all FP got was a yell to shut up kid. He didn't know how to be soft he didn't know how to help Fred but he was here and Fred was in his arms with no complaints so he did was he remembered until Fred stopped. FP mentally promised Fred that he would be there for him no matter what.

“ Hey, hey Freddie when I get outta here I’ll be there for you no matter what okay, I don't care what you’ve said to me we both know I treated you horribly but you need help okay baby, and I wanna help any way I can do you hear me, Fred?” FP said stroking Fred’s hair. Prison be damned, he knew where he should be and that was being a good friend to Fred. He knew he would get out in a short while because they had nothing big on him and after that, it was to stay with Fred. 

THE END


End file.
